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2010-02-13 - Devourer of Souls
It's late at night--rather too late for many people's tastes. Most of New York--at least, those with ordinary 8-to-5 jobs and similar schedules--are in bed. But not Henry. No, Henry's out on the streets tonight, despite the late hour. He's seated on a bench, watching the local hospital. Green Lantern comes out of said hospital. About twenty minutes ago he went in there carrying an unconscious person on a green stretcher. Likely, the ambulance was too slow. Not that Hal has never done things like this before. Henry remains still, watching the hospital, barely seeming to even blink. He doesn't seem to notice Hal--or if he does, he doesn't for the moment acknowledge him. "Where are you..." he says, softly, his voice echoing oddly. "Show me where you are...mm...not inside yet?" Green Lantern hears that, and flies across the road (Why dodge traffic, if you can fly). "Henry?" he inquires, a little...uncertainly. What is the kid doing? "Hello, Green Lantern," Henry says, smiling softly, as he looks towards the Lantern for a moment before returning his attention to the hospital. "You have very good timing. Are you busy?" Green Lantern shakes his head. "Not right now. What did you need?" The boy might well have stumbled on something that requires the assistance of a superhero. Henry nods, looking relieved. "Well...to be honest, I am not sure I will need help, but...it would be good to have someone better at handling, um...fighting...just in case. I am not really sure how bad this could get." Green Lantern nods. "You would like me to protect you while you handle something. What is actually happening?" Henry smiles. "Um...well...I do not usually do things like this, but..." He starts looking around, carefully watching the area. "A little while ago, I ran into a very scared ghost. A hurt ghost. He was a patient at this hospital--um...what did he say? Um...I forget what he died of, but that is not important. Um...the night he died--''after'' he died, I mean--he got attacked. An evil spirit tried to eat him." Green Lantern frowns. "And now you are hunting this spirit in the hope of sending it somewhere less pleasant?" He's not the best equipped for this...but he can, at least, restrain anyone who gets possessed. And is not likely to be possessed himself. Henry nods. "I do not like doing things like this--I do not normally risk myself. But I do not like things that hurt spirits, either. Especially people who died early...it seems pretty unfair if you ask me!" He nods, and smiles at Hal. "The thing is, I think it possessed someone. I can free that person pretty easily, but not if I get shot or something! Plus...umm...things like this tend to be pretty strong. They work subtly so they do not have to fight often--because they do not want to use up their energy--but if they do fight...um...well, they throw things. Big things. I would rather not be crushed. So if you could..." He trails off, and looks to his right. "Mm...what is the expression?" He snaps his fingers. "Speak of the devil, right?" Green Lantern nods. "I can restrain the person, physically, although I'd imagine that might cause the spirit to jump out of them and into something else." Henry nods. "Well...I am hoping I can hit it hard before it jumps...but if you can try to just stop him from hurting me without making it too jumpy, that would work best." He stands, slowly. "Here it comes...um...you know fighting people better than I do, I bet...if you can just make sure I can land a hit." And around the corner comes...a rather average-looking young man, dressed as one of the hospital cleaning staff. Probably was a night janitor, before he got possessed. If he is possessed--he looks normal enough, walking towards work, hands in his pockets. It's pretty late, so there's not much going on. There's a few cars on the road, but they're only in the area for a few moments. Likewise, there's some ER staff or such that come out of the hospital when an ambulance comes by, but again, only for a few moments. By and large, the area's pretty clear. Green Lantern narrows his eyes a little at the man...and what he does is quite subtle. Normally, he'd just toss a bubble around the person, but that might be embarrassing if Henry has it wrong. A small green construct zips around the back and takes a firm grip of him by the belt. That should hold him still for long enough for Henry. Henry is clearly quite sure of his choice. He starts to walk quickly towards the man, not bothering the least with subtlety. Of course, given his own massive spiritual signature, he's sure the man knows that he's not just some normal kid. This analysis proves quite right--as when the man notices Henry, he looks towards him and actually looks hungry. The meal of the century is walking towards him--that's the thought process going through his head. The hungry look, though, quickly turns to worry when two realizations hit him--one, that something has a hold of him and he can't walk anywhere, and two...that that attractive meal's right hand is glowing brightly. Snarling suddenly, the man thrusts forward a hand...and a streetlamp suddenly rips out of the ground and flings straight towards Henry from behind. With all the weirdness going on in the city these days, Naomi has begun to wonder if someone out there hadn't accidentally unlocked some magic artifact. (Darn magic users...) With no giant robots to battle, it's been a rather slow time of things for Armor Girl, (okay, so she battles more then just giant robots...) who is flying through the dark night sky at an easy pace. The faint glow of her armor makes her stick out only slightly above the city that never sleeps, but only as much as peopel that might see her would mistake her for a normal aircraft from the ground. She pauses in her flight when her sensors pick up a new energy signal. She turns, her visor glowing a soft red color as she decends to check it out. Landing on a building not far aay, she crouches like a glowing, armored techno-gargoyle, magnifying what she sees throygh her helmet optics. "... What in the..." Green Lantern narrows his eyes...and instantly forms a green wall, a forcefield between Henry and the lamp post. He can do this and hold the guy still. "Get him." Whatever's going on, it's clear that Henry did not start it. It's NOT clear why a hospital worker is being held still by a GL construct on his belt and apparently telekinetically throwing lamp posts around. "Ah!" Henry yelps, as he spots the lamp post and ducks...fortunately, he doesn't have to find out if he's in time or not, as Hal's wall blocks the blow and the post cracks in half upon striking it. Shakily, Henry stands up again. "Oh, wow...that was a little close..." He turns towards the target, who reaches out with a hand towards the bench Henry was seated on before...but even as the bench starts to lift from the ground, Henry lunges forward and strikes with his glowing hand towards the man's chest. The blow is so soft there's almost no sound--but the janitor shrieks in response, and the bench falls back to the ground as the man suddenly goes limp. Flying lamp posts. glowing green walls. And hospital janitors screeching as they are getting assaulted. Armor Girl doesn't know what in the hell was going on, but something needed to be done here. And she was an Avenger too... "... Well hell..." Public relations was never her strong point, but she couldn't be deralect in her duties either. She pushes off the rooftop, and instantly vanishes in a flash of light as she activates her teleporter... A split second later, and she reappears hovering just above the street, her arm-mounted cannon extended, but not aimed at anyone... yet. From her other hand, she shines a rather bright light... a recent modification... It was just a really bright fliashlight, really. "Cease and desist." She says in the most official sounding tone she can work up, with her roboticly synthisized voice. A slight pause... What do police officers say at this point? She couldnt arrest anyone yet... A quick scan of everyone present brings up the unconscious man, Henry, and... Green Lantern? Oh great... Conflict of jurisdiction was about to errupt... "Is it out?" Green Lantern asks Henry, glancing up for a moment at the arriving Avenger. He knows her by reputation. And by connection with her rather unpleasant sister. In fact, he tenses a little. He cannot be one hundred percent sure that isn't Reina up there, after all. Henry starts to dig in his pocket. "I got it out of him, but it is still here!" He blinks, and looks up at Armor Girl. "Um, wait, wait, I...um..." He pulls a metallic orb out of his pocket. "Um, there is something here I have to stop!" He raises the sphere towards a seemingly-empty area...but suddenly, the sphere flies from his hand and sails across the street. Henry makes a face. "It had to be a smart one...ah!" He dives sideways, as a manhole cover suddenly rips out of the ground and comes spinning for his head. The janitor he hit, one might note, appears to be completely unconscious, and is only up at all so long as Hal's still supporting him. Things just go from strange, to stranger... Armor Girl doesn't know about Lanterns run-in with Reina yet (which is probably a good thing) so she isn't aware of what Hal is thinking of her... As for Henry.. well, his words turn her attention back to him, just as he reaches into his pocket to pull out... something. Initial reaction is that hes pulling out a weapon, and as such she raises her own... but as the silvery ball goes zipping away across the street, Armor Girl turns to watch it fly... only to see a manhole cover come flying through the air. With a swift movement, she suddenly tries to snatch it out of the air like a giant metal frisbee. "... Paranormal activity... Right?" She comments as she examines the manhole cover for a second. "... Great..." "Malevolent ghost," Hal says, narrowing his eyes. He can't see it...or can he? He's trying to come up with a way to make it visible. And, he's going to assume for now that the armored figure is not Reina. As she's not trying to kill him yet. Armor Girl has the manhole cover, so he's going to...put a forcefield around Henry. It won't stop anything but incoming damage. "You're shielded." Henry picks himself up off the ground, trying to catch his breath. "Should have...hit it...harder..." he gasps, and looks towards Armor Girl. "Thank you." He looks to Hal. "I was worried about using too much power...might have hurt the man if I struck too hard, but it looks like that was a mistake. If I can just get that orb, I can stop it." He starts towards the orb, lying across the street... The spirit is still quite invisible, but fortunately, its attacks aren't. As far as they can tell, it can't strike directly through telekinesis--it has to throw items nearby at them. That's the good news. The bad news is that it appears to have moved on to cars, as an unfortunate driver, just passing the next intersection over, suddenly finds his car flung not towards Henry, but towards Hal. At the same time, another streetlamp is ripped from the ground, flung at the newly-arrived Armor Girl, and concrete chunks fly out of the sidewalk to fling towards Henry. He braces himself, and lets Hal's shield absorb the blows... And now things are getting thrown at her. Armor Girl is not having a good night. But, at least they aren't hitting her with things that can actually hurt her yet. This.. spirit thing would have to get through a lot of armor and shielding for that. "Insubstantial enemy... I feel rather out of my depth..." She comments as she dodges upwards and twirls in the air to avoid the street lamp, all the while, she goes through every possible spectrum imaginable through her visor in an attempt to try and see the thing that's causing this. If its a being made of some kind of energy, then maybe it could be disbursed. Then Henry makes a comment about the orb that he needs. "... Stay in that shield. Ill get..." and that's when the car comes flying towards Green Lantern. Armor Girl shows just how fast she can really move, as she blurs into motion, trying to grab the car out of the air before it connects with Lantern. Green Lantern is also catching the car...a construct that slides under it. There's somebody in there after all. "Careful, Armor Girl!" Hal calls. He does not seem at all alarmed. "The kid can get the ghost, we just have to keep it occupied." And keep Henry protected, because he has no armor or resistance or anything useful for this situation. The car is caught--and thankfully, the driver doesn't appear much the worse for wear, though he is, as one might guess, scared out of his wits at the moment. Unfortunately, their foe appears to still have a few tricks up its sleeve, as when Henry's halfway across the street, it seems to recognize that he's being nicely shielded...and decides to grab him instead. The street itself flows up around his feet, tendrils wrapping around him to try to hold him in place. Fortunately, thanks to Hal's shield, it can't hurt him...but he can't seem to move, either. Frowning, Henry starts to focus. To make matters worse, a shield of concrete folds over the orb where it lies, encasing it--not totally solidly, but it's enough that Henry's sure to have trouble getting it out. The car is safe, and so is the driver. Armor Girl goes to put the vehicle down (as gently as possible) before glancing in the window. "I would suggest you move along, citizen." And then she was hovering up over the car in time to see Henry getting bogged down, while the orb gets partly covered in concrete. and there was still nothing on her scanners, no matter what spectrum she tried? She frowns slightly behind her faceplate before trying something else... Energy detection, kinda like sonar, only instead of sound, it detects energy signatures... Adjusting for Lantern, she tries to see what she can detect. "Alright... now I'm going to try to get the thing..." She says as she tries dashing across the street. If she needed to, she could get that orb free... "I'm trying to track it with the ring, but haven't managed to nail it down yet." The shield of concrete, he can worry about later. Unless Henry tells him otherwise. Instead, he focuses on expanding the forcefield around the boy some, trying to break those street tendrils and get him free. "This is starting to get irritating," the Green Lantern added. Armor Girl's attempts to locate the creature go without any success...but she might notice an energy pattern about the part of the road that's entrapping Henry, and the concrete surrounding the orb. It seems like this energy might be a sign of its power use. Hal, if he thinks to look for this, finds it as well. Hal's attempts to break the tendrils around Henry go well...unfortunately, the thing is quite determined, and every time one breaks, another takes its place. Until, suddenly, Henry finishes what he was focusing on, and a globe of unnatural white light forms around him. Oddly, though the light glows brightly and is easily visible in the darkness of the night, it doesn't brighten the surrounding area at all... The street attacking him stops moving entirely. Armor Girl, however, is outside the shield--and so, a thick tendril reaches up from the street to try to grab her. "Wait!" Henry calls, running after her. "Stay with me! If you try to take the orb it will just throw it away again! We can only get it if it is in this shield!" Try as she might, Naomi simply does not understand how paranormal or mystical energies work. For her, there simply has to be a technological answer for everything, or at least one based in normal, real science. "This being is evedently a creature of energy... Energy can not be destroyed, but it can be divert-" And then shes cut off as a tendral of concrete suddenly reaches up and grabs her! She wasn't expecting that, obviously, as she is suddenly, and violently, slammed into the ground with a metallic thud! "... I hate it when I can't see my enemy..." She says, a split second before her energy sword blazes to life, slicing through concrete like butter. She doesn't seem damaged... "Strange energy signature... Lantern, as you detecting it as well... Right where the concrete is being affected." and then Henry is right beside her, and the concrete goes completely inanimate. She just looks right at the young man at that point. "... What are you?" She cant help but ask... "Yes, I am. Henry, orb within shield?" Hal can see it, and the concrete is not a problem for him...although the Green Lantern has barely even moved through this entire fight. Or, really, changed expression that much. He's rather scarily casual. "I am someone who can stop this spirit," Henry says to Naomi. "Sorry, but that will have to do." He nods at Hal. "I am headed there now!" He hurries the rest of the distance, placing the orb within his shield. Unfortunately, the concrete around it may not be moving anymore, but it is solidly built enough that it doesn't fall apart. Double unfortunately, the spirit appears to have figured out it can't affect things in the shield...but that the shield isn't going to stop anything thrown from outside of it. A huge slab of concrete lifts up from the sidewalk and flings right for Henry--with Hal's shielding protecting him, it probably won't hurt the kid, but that's probably not the goal. Right now, the creature probably just wants to get him away from the orb, and from the size of that thing, it'll probably do the job. At the same time, a billboard on a rooftop is torn off and flung for Naomi...though oddly, the tearing seems to go slowly. It's tiring. Hal knows he has to deflect the concrete...and he does so. Twice, even...his first attempt inadvertently sent it towards the poor janitor (who is going to be waking up with a massive headache, no doubt, once all of this is over.) It ends up crashing partly into the fortunately very solid outer wall of the hospital. With a quick strike from Naomi, who deftly avoids the billboard as well, the concrete blocking the orb is shattered, and Henry quickly scoops it up. With it still within his shield, the creature can't rip it from his hands...and it is quickly clear that Henry knows exactly where the spirit is. He raises the orb, and a beam of the same white light streams forth from it, clashing into an area in the sky...and revealing, in shimmering spirit-light, the spirit they are fighting. The sight is horrible--a twisting mass of amorphous shapes, constantly changing, with horrific, screaming faces trapped within. It struggles in the beam, but slowly begins to sink towards the ground. It isn't over, though...it's clear more is needed. So, with it wounded, Henry gives it more. His shield falls...but the creature is too hurt to grab the weapon away again...and perhaps, with Henry's own power flooding the orb, it wouldn't be able to anyway. The orb glows brightly, and one terrible blast of white light strikes forth from it, striking into the spirit...and breaking through. A wailing sound fills the night, and for a moment, they can catch sight of the thing's form drifting apart, and other vague shapes drifting out of it into the night sky. Henry falls to his knees, taking deep breaths. "It...It is done...it is done. They are free...thank you both." He looks over at Hal, then Armor Girl. "Now...now I remember why I do not do this very often. But I will be fine. It is over. Thank you." "Would you like me to take you home?" Hal offers. He glances at Armor Girl, softly, "You are far nicer than your sister." Like that's particularly hard. The Lantern glances around at the damage. Ugh. If Armor Girl is able to get any readings at all from that entire display, shes going to be studying them intently for a while. She doesn't want to be unable to affect a potential enemy like that again. She looks down at Henry, making sure that his distress is only from fatigue, before Lantern walks up. "... So I have been told." She responds evenly. "If you have him, then I'm going to continue my patrol..." Henry slowly shakes his head. "No--no thank you, sir." He smiles a little. "There are some people I have to talk to now...to explain some things, and make sure they are safe. I am just a little tired, but I will be fine. The danger is past, and you do not need to stay." A brief pause, as he looks around at the carnage. "Though I guess it would be handy if you could tell the policemen that I did not do all this!" He laughs, and waves to Armor Girl. "Um...thank you again! I do not think I could have done this without the two of you!"